Made to Order: Accent Room shows AU's talent

Sep. 19, 2013

Written by

Seth Weibel

News Journal columnist

Several times since they have moved to Ashland, my parents, Herman and Phyllis, have made it a point to eat lunch at Ashland University’s Accent Room.

Chef Andrea and I have had the pleasure at times to touch base with some of their chefs. We’ve done demos with Chef Kevin Burke, who’s a great guy and orchestrator in the kitchen. Ashland University has won many national awards for its student dining, but many people don’t take advantage of eating at their restaurant. It’s open to the public and is located below the Convocation Center, where we’ve set up many cakes over the years.

I was able to talk to current manager Carrie Gough, who not only takes care of the Accent Room, but also oversees 2,500-plus catered events at AU annually. The Accent Room’s menu changes four times a year to utilize seasonal ingredients and features daily specials and desserts. Meals are reasonably priced at around $6.50 to $9.50 and good sized, with dessert selections at $2.

There also are many options in the “do-your-own” pasta or salad your way. With three sauces, four meats and at least a dozen vegetables, the combinations are infinite. Their salad toppings are also generous with 23 fresh ingredients over crisp Romaine lettuce.

While you’re chatting with your table mates, you’ll see many examples and pictures of the rich history of Ashland University. Many pictures of past U.S. presidents who have spoken and dined at special events of AU adorn the walls.

The restaurant is open from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and makes the perfect place for business meetings or friends catching up for a lunch break. Its Facebook page has plenty of info and shows the specials.

On the day we visited, the Accent Room had two featured homemade soups: chicken vegetable and Italian wedding soup. The chicken veggie soup was a hearty soup, rich in flavor with plentiful onions, carrots, squash, potatoes and various other fresh ingredients.

The first sandwich we tried was a smoked turkey and Gouda panini, which had bacon and a wonderful sun-dried tomato pesto mayonnaise. It was the happy marriage of a mild cheese, crisp bacon with quality smoked turkey on multi-grain bread.

Our second offering was the grilled bruschetta pizza, which was Andrea and Jennie’s favorite. With Roma tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, homemade pesto and fresh basil, it screamed fresh. The girls especially liked the crust, which was thin, chewy and crunchy to the bite.

The next item was my personal favorite dish. The southwestern chicken salad had superb grilled chicken that had a little spicy rub coated all over it, then cut into fanned strips. This salad featured tortilla chips, black beans, avocado, tomato, Monterey Jack cheese and an eye-opening dressing that gave it a hefty kick.

One item they’ve had for years that keeps on selling is the Ashland Club with honey ham, smoked turkey, bacon, cheddar and a signature pesto mayo. It was stacked high and deep with multiple colorful layers. This was served with their house fries, but we also had the sweet potato fries on our turkey Gouda.

Along with a great cup of decaf, Andrea decided to sample several desserts with Jennie, David and Silas. They offer both their mini selection or full-sized desserts so you can choose how full the tank will be. Their first full-sized dessert was the triple threat peanut butter cheesecake, which was ample and rich. It offered the true taste of a Reese’s cup in a cheesecake format. It was coated with a layer of ganache that found its way down the sides as we licked our chops. It was silky, flavorful and thick in your mouth. Everyone at the table picked this as the “One.”

Next, the black bottom chocolate creme pie was a light mousse pie with super-creamy filling and not quite enough to send you into a chocolate coma.

We finished off our lunch with some nifty little slider desserts lined up in a row. There was the coconut creme pie, which was my personal favorite; then a turtle cheesecake with caramel and chocolate. A couple of berry offerings rounded out the cheesecakes with cherry and strawberry really filling the gaps. Finally, two sweet sliders exactly like a Snickers and cookies and cream pie rounded out the day.

It’s easy to view the menu, set up reservations or even inquire with Carrie about your catering needs. Simply visit www1.ashland.edu/administration/accent-room or call 419-289-5759 for details.